Baseball’s Top 40 Players, Age 25 Or Under
You can’t help but notice all the young talent on baseball rosters these days. There has certainly been a changing of the guard, especially among pitchers, over the past few seasons. Just try to name a dozen active pitchers age 32 or over that are still experiencing success in the Majors. I think you’ll find it challenging.
I decided, for my own benefit, to draw up a list of the best players currently on MLB rosters who are no older than 25. I want to make it clear that this is not a list of baseball’s top prospects. Mets fans won’t, for example, find either Zach Wheeler or Travis D’Arnoud on this list, nor will Cardinals fans spot Oscar Taveras’s name. This is a list of players who are actually active and contributing (to varying degrees) on MLB rosters. I think you’ll be familiar with many of these names, though most are far from being household names at this early point in their respective careers.
I listed the players by position, and also included their current age, and the team they play for. None of these players will turn 26-years old until at least this August at the earliest. Several of them are much younger than 25, as you will see. As you scan the list of 40 names, see how many of these players you recognize.
1B Freddie Freeman – Braves, age 23
1B Eric Hosmer – Royals, age 23
1B Anthony Rizzo – Cubs, age 23
1B Matt Adams – Cardinals, age 24
1B Paul Goldschmidt – Diamondbacks, age 25
2B Jose Altuve – Astros, age 23
3B Manny Machado – Orioles, age 20
3B Brett Lawrie – Blue Jays, age 23
3B Will Middlebrooks – Red Sox, age 24
3B Kyle Seager – Mariners, age 24
SS Starlin Castro – Cubs, age 23
SS Andrelton Simmons – Braves, age 23
SS Elvis Andrus – Rangers, age 24
C Salvador Perez – Royals, age 23
C Wil Rosario – Rockies, age 24
OF Bryce Harper – Nationals, age 20
OF Mike Trout – Angels, age 21
OF Jason Heyward – Braves, age 23
OF Giancarlo Stanton – Marlins, age 23
OF Starling Marte – Pirates, age 24
OF Travis Snider – Pirates, age 25
OF Justin Upton – Braves, age 25
SP Jose Fernandez – Marlins, age 20
SP Shelby Miller – Cardinals, age 22
SP Madison Bumgarner – Giants, age 23
SP Chris Sale – White Sox, age 24
SP Matt Moore – Rays, age 24
SP Matt Harvey – Mets, age 24
SP Jose Quintana – White Sox, age 24
SP Neftali Feliz – Rangers, age 24
SP Steven Strasburg – Nationals, age 24
SP Jhoulys Chacin – Rockies, age 25
SP Clayton Kershaw – Dodgers, age 25
SP Matt Latos – Reds, age 25
SP Mike Minor – Braves, age 25
RP Addison Reed – White Sox, age 24
RP Kenley Jansen – Dodgers, age 25
RP Craig Kimbrel – Braves, age 25
RP Bryan Shaw – Indians, age 25
RP Drew Storen – Nationals, age 25
What an amazing list of names. The quality of pitchers and outfielders is especially impressive. How many of these players will go on to enjoy Hall of Fame careers? Certainly, several of these players will appear in more than a couple of All-Star games. Some will see their careers shortened, or derailed altogether, by injuries. Others will simply flame out after a few good seasons. But they, along with the other prospects that baseball keeps churning out, are baseball’s future. And seldom in baseball’s long history has that future looked brighter.
you could probably fill up half the pitcher’s list with nothing but cardinals. drives me bonkers!
Great list. We’ll see what happens with Jansen. I’m normally optimistic–sometimes blindly so, but I don’t see him as having a long life in the bigs. I’m wrong all the time, though.
And Starlin Castro is a pretty cool name, but how much cooler would it be if he just dropped that L and became STALIN Castro. SWEET!
Hey Smak, As far as relievers are concerned, few of them ever have long and significantly successful careers, so the odds are with you regarding your analysis of Jansen. Somehow, I never noticed the possibility of Stalin Castro! Guess I’m not the budding socialist some people think I am.
Thanks for checking in, man.
Bill
Nice list. However, I would not have put Feliz on there as a starting pitcher. While he excelled as a closer (and I still think he would be great as a middle reliever), he is not a good starter. His record shows that he has about four really great innings. After that, he is pretty much done. I fear the Rangers ruined him by trying to make a starter out of him. He has yet to come back from his injuries.
Jeff, I think you’re right about that. I only listed him as a starter because that’s what he was doing at the time of his injury. But I do agree with you that if he’s going to be great, it’ll probably have to be as a relief pitcher.
Nice catch,
Bill
And this doesn’t even include guys like Profar and Gerrit Cole and Miguel Sano and so on and so forth. There are some young studs in this game right now.
It’s a great time to be a baseball fan, but I get the impression sometimes that lots of people are so jaded by the steroid issue that they just don’t want to get too hooked on this new crop of young players. Also, it seems to me that at least some older baseball fans would rather reminisce about the old days than pay much attention to what’s going on in the game today. Their loss.
As usual not a single Dodgers hitter (but 2 pitchers). Maybe they could trade for Stanton. God, I hate to see him wasted in Miami.
Nice list, Bill
v
Dodgers always seem to come up with the pitching, but yeah, Stanton sure could use a change of scenery. It would cost some team a bundle of prospects to go out and get him, though.
Thanks, V
Bill
Great list…great to see so many Braves on there. They’re a young, exciting bunch!
Thanks very much, Sean. I appreciate the comment. Thanks for reading. Yeah, it certainly is a nice time to be a Braves fan!
Bill